Leading in the greyscale: how new leaders can master the contradictions of management
Stepping into a leadership role for the first time can feel like a collision. You are suddenly caught between two competing worlds: the individual tasks you were hired for and the new, demanding responsibility of leading and managing a team.
Many new leaders fall into the "either-or" trap, believing they must either sacrifice their own productivity to support their team or ignore their team to get their own work done. Alternatively, you might feel you have to work ultra-long hours in order to meet both sets of demands.
However, recent research into an idea called ‘Paradoxical Leadership Behaviour’ suggests that the most effective leaders don’t choose between these competing demands; they embrace them both. Paradoxical leadership is a leadership style that uses seemingly competing but interrelated behaviours to meet dual demands simultaneously. By shifting from "either-or" thinking to "both-and" thinking, new leaders can navigate the complexities of modern, uncertain organisational environments.
Here are three ways new leaders can use ideas from the paradoxical leadership research to balance their workload and lead effectively.
1. Master the "self vs team" paradox
One of the primary dimensions of paradoxical leadership is maintaining a degree of egocentricity while caring for others.
For a new leader, "egocentricity" doesn't mean being selfish; it means protecting the time required to focus on your own tasks. Conversely, "caring" involves being available to support your team’s development and needs.
For many new leaders, striking this balance is at the heart of the problem they face. So what can you do?
Action Steps:
Schedule "Egocentric" time blocks: Dedicate specific times where, except for emergencies, you are "off-limits" to the team. This allows you to focus on the specialised tasks that only you can perform, ensuring your individual contribution remains high.
Practice perspective taking: Instead of viewing team interruptions as a distraction from "your work," recognise that a different perspective would tell you that a team member's problem now prevents a larger productivity drain later.
Coach: As I frequently re-iterate in this newsletter, a coaching approach is possibly a leader’s most effective tool. Coaching boosts engagement, it demonstrates your quality as a leader and it helps your team become better at solving their own problems, so your own workload will diminish over time. There is much more on this here.
2. Implement "structured autonomy"
New leaders often struggle with delegation. They may micromanage (high control) or be completely hands-off (high autonomy), both of which can lead to workload imbalances. Paradoxical leadership advocates for taking control of decision-making while also allowing employees to make their own decisions. This creates a productive approach where the leader sets the framework but the team drives the execution.
Action Steps:
Define the "non-negotiables": Be explicit about which decisions require your direct control (e.g., budget, final strategy, sign-offs) and which are entirely within the team's domain. This reduces your cognitive load (and that of your team) and prevents you from being a bottleneck.
Create and maintain psychological safety: Encourage employees to share ideas and take ownership. When employees feel safe to make decisions, they become better at managing their own competing tasks, which ultimately reduces the amount of "firefighting" you have to do as a leader.
Flex the decision boundaries: As you become more experienced as a leader and your team develops, you can and should devolve more autonomy to the team, freeing you up for more strategic work.
3. Balance high standards with radical flexibility
The research identifies that a key dimension of success is stressing high standards in work processes while also allowing for flexibility. New leaders often fear that allowing flexibility will lead to a drop in quality, but the "both-and" approach shows that flexibility actually enhances engagement and performance.
Action Steps:
Clarify goals, not methods: Provide goal clarity by being explicit about what needs to be done and why, but grant the team autonomy over the "how". This allows team members to "job craft," or adjust their tasks to fit their strengths, which has been shown to improve motivation and overall task performance.
Manage in the space between black and white: For example, when a team member misses a deadline, don't just call them out for getting it wrong. Instead, find out what was behind the missed deadline. You can emphasise the importance of maintaining high standards for the future, but still be flexible in the moment to support the individual. This builds long-term employee resilience and loyalty.
The path forward
In today’s "new normal" of complexity and constant change, paradoxes are inescapable. Leaders who try to resolve these contradictions by picking a side often end up overwhelmed or ineffective. By adopting a mindset that allows you to take a bigger perspective, you can learn that seemingly contradictory approaches can still be effective.
Remember, the goal is not to find a perfect middle ground, but to be "both-and": both a high-performing individual contributor and a supportive team leader; both a strict standard setter and a flexible coach. Mastering this will not only balance your workload but will also stimulate the innovation and engagement your team needs to thrive.
References
Fürstenberg, N., Alfes, K., & Kearney, E. (2021). How and when paradoxical leadership benefits work engagement: The role of goal clarity and work autonomy. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12344.
Lihualei, L., & Arshad, M. (2024). Paradoxical Leadership Behavior: Literature Review and Prospects. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v14-i12/24059.
What Next?
All of my posts for new leaders are here.
How I can help you
Coaching - I have a few spots available for 1 to 1 coaching. I can help you with any of the people leadership challenges you might be facing. There are more details here.